Eggs from Free Range Chickens - No Sunny Side Up

It is the scene from Rocky....he is preparing for the big fight, and he starts his day by knocking back a half dozen raw eggs in a glass.   Well, hopefully those where conventionally produced eggs and not eggs from free range chickens.

In a study published in Food Control, chicks were separated after hatch...some went to live the life on the open range while the other half were stuck in conventional cages.  And as you might predict, the eggs from free range chickens had higher levels of Salmonella (2.6% vs 0 for conventional) and Campylobacter (26.1% versus 7.6% for conventional).  This is because free range chickens are more apt to come into contact with biological contaminants and pass those contaminates to the eggs.  (Additionally, conventional eggs are washed with a high pH solution, which would further reduce the level of contamination.)

This is not a beat down on Free Range eggs, but people need to recognize the higher risk for eggs from free range chickens, which are often purchased at farmers's markets, farm stands, and such.  If buying eggs that are not conventionally produced, you can reduce the risk of illness by properly cooking (over hard or scrambled) and proper handling the eggs.

Food Control 
Volume 47, January 2015, Pages 161–165
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956713514003673
Microbiological contamination of shell eggs produced in conventional and free-range housing systemsM.A. Parisia, J.K. Northcutta, , , D.P. Smithb, E.L. Steinberga, P.L. Dawsona


Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine microbiological contamination of free-range and conventional chicken eggs produced under controlled conditions. Eighty-four certified Salmonella-free Bovan Brown chicks (age 2 days) were grown in 6 separate floor pens until age 16 weeks, and then moved into 3 conventional battery cages (BC) or 3 free-range (FR) housing systems. Total aerobic microorganisms and Enterobacteriaceae on egg shell surfaces were enumerated weekly when the hens were 20–27 weeks of age (N = 535 and N = 541 for BC and FR, respectively). Prevalence of Salmonella and Campylobacter were determined on crushed egg shells (N = 212 and N = 176, respectively) and in feces (N = 36 and N = 30, respectively) collected from hens at 24 and 28 weeks of age. Counts of total aerobic microorganisms recovered from BC and FR eggs ranged from 5.0 to 6.0 log10 CFU/mL. Numbers of Enterobacteriaceae averaged 1.0 log CFU/mL higher (90% greater) on FR eggs than on eggs from BC hens. Salmonella was not detected on any of the eggs collected from BC hens (0/212), but prevalence on eggs collected from FR hens was 2.36% positive (5/212). Prevalence of Campylobacter recovered from eggs collected from FR (26.1% positive or 46 out of 176 positive) was significantly higher (P ≤ 0.0001) than the prevalence of Campylobacter recovered from eggs from BC hens (7.4% positive or 13 out of 176 positive). These data demonstrate that FR eggs, where hens have more contact with eggs after oviposition, have greater microbiological contamination on the egg shell surface than eggs produced in the BC cage systems.